My dog has liver cancer, I’ve tried everything medically that I can think of to help her, any suggestions?

Jimmy answers:

I’m so sorry, I understand what you’re going through. My last dog died due to lymphoma that they believe started with cancer in the liver.

Sounds like you’re doing everything right. I know you want to keep the carbs down to a minimum. There are a number of sites and support sites you can reference that have a lot of information regarding canine cancer.

Diet plays a role, as do prednesone (sp?) and a few other things. I can tell you for sure that the treatments are expensive.

My heart goes out to you. Below are some of the webpages I used when he’s sick. They have links to other sites as well.

i’m 16 years old, and my golden has lymphoma cancer in his kneck and his back legs, I bought him when i was 10, we have grown up together, and idk what i’d do without him :’(. He has about a month left to live w/o treatment… we are going to give him chemotherapy, feed him meat, give him a special diet, and 3 different types of herbal anti-cancer fighting medications… what do u think his chance of living is ? please please please help me… idk what to do . thank you all. ANY INFO ON THIS WILL BE HELPFUL –thanks

Jimmy answers:

I am sorry about your dog.

Here are a few links about lymphoma in dogs. You posted this in the human cancer section; you might also try posting in the Animal and Pet section where you can get better answers.

Http://www.marvistavet.com/html/canine_lymphoma.html

http://www.caninecancer.com/Lymphoma.html

Here is a hopeful story about a dog that lived quite awhile with lymphoma:
http://www.pyrbred.org/lymphoma.html

John asks…

question on Chihuahua’s and heart problems -?

I’ve had 2 good friends just recently that have had their chi’s diagnosed with some type of genetic heart problem (murmers, irregular heartbeat, etc) – and both have been put on some rather expensive heart medicine as a result – I believe one of my friends is paying about 150 a month and the other 300 a month for the 3 different medications the vets put their chi’s on – I was just so surprised to hear about this type of problem or defect with chi’s. The one vet even recommended not having their chi spayed because the surgery/anasthesia process could cause heart failure and the chi could die. Do any chi experts out there know if its very common to have serious heart problems with chi’s, or is it rare? What percent would you estimate of all chi’s have these kinds of genetic or congenital heart problems? I was thinking of getting a chi next time I get a dog, but now I am just starting to wonder – this worries me alot about the breed. Thanks for any info some experts can provide me on this issue -

Jimmy answers:

Back yard breeding of chihuahuas has cause magnification of a lot of problems with chihuahuas. They can have heart disease, luxating patellas, legge perthes disease, glaucoma, shunts, seizures. Etc. I wouldn’t rule out the breed as a whole for a pet, but knowing what you are getting into helps. Instead of buying one, you should adopt an adult from a shelter or rescue. They are over-populated in western US states, especially CA.

This is no different from other breeds that have similar issues. For instance, poodles are known for cushings disease, PRA, glaucoma, heart disease. Dachshunds are known for ruptured discs, heart disease, chushings disease, etc. Yorkies are known for shunts, legge perthes, luxating patellas, etc.

It didn’t dissuade me. I love them, love their personalities, etc and all my chi’s and poodles are rescues.

PS – you might see if any of your friends’ pets’ medications are part of the Walmart $4 Rx plan. My poodles meds were (although, I got them from my employer at cost). See if the vet will write an Rx. If on pimobendan (Vetmedin) this is canine only, so Walmart won’t carry it, but human meds they will have. I also HIGHLY recommend Omega 3 fatty acid supplementation for cardiac dogs AND low protein/low sodium food (like Hills Science Diet H/D). My poodle had a congenital mitral valve insufficiency for 17 years – last 5 on medications. I lost him this last year most likely to lymphoma, not his heart disease!